


A Reason to Stay

by Cait_Sidhe



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Crying, Depressed Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Depression, Destiny Islands (Kingdom Hearts), Disney Castle (Kingdom Hearts), Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Love Confessions, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Out of Body Experiences, POV Mickey, POV Riku (Kingdom Hearts), POV Sora (Kingdom Hearts), POV Third Person Limited, Paopu Fruit (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts II, Pre-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, Protective Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Riku Loves Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sora Loves Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Suicide Attempt, The Final World (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27276187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cait_Sidhe/pseuds/Cait_Sidhe
Summary: Partway through swallowing a bottle of pills, Sora realizes that, despite what he thought a minute prior, he does not want to die. He manages to call Riku before he passes out, who rushes Sora to the hospital.Sora then finds himself in a strange place talking to a creature called Chirithy, who is trying to convince Sora to hang onto life, as well as helps Sora realize something about himself.Later, Sora and Riku discuss feelings and share a paopu fruit.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54





	A Reason to Stay

**Author's Note:**

> Please heed the tags. It all works out in the end, but this fic (especially the beginning part) may be highly triggering for some people, especially those who have gone through similar situations as presented in it.
> 
> The initial idea for this actually came from another story of mine, during which Sora opens the bottle of pills but doesn't actually swallow any. Originally he did. Since I had written that scene already, I decided to remove references to the other story and then continue it. Somehow it kept growing, and I ended up writing 10k words over two days, resulting in this.
> 
> So, enjoy! It rotates between Sora's, Riku's, and Mickey's POV.

Sora closed his eyes as he swallowed, already starting to feel a little sleepy... then he abruptly opened them in a panic. What was he doing!? A wave of sheer terror and panic shot through Sora; his or Roxas’s? Who knew; everyone kept saying Roxas had integrated into him, but Sora didn’t think so. Well, either way, that was irrelevant; he had to do something. But what? He’d already… he looked down at the object in his hand, then dropped it with a start. No, despite his feelings earlier, he didn’t want this after all… but what should he do?! 

Riku. Sora could call Riku. Riku would know what to do. He rushed out of the bathroom and to the wall phone, scrambling to grab the receiver, nearly dropping it in the process. Shaking, he dialed Riku’s number… one ring… two rings… three rings… four... voicemail. Well, it was pretty late at night. Sora weakly dialed again, his breathing becoming shallow as speeding up as he did so. On the second ring, Riku answered with a sleepy "Hello?"; thankfully he had a separate phone line in his room, otherwise Sora might have gotten his dad.

“Riku,” Sora croaked, having trouble breathing.

“Sora?” came the reply.

“Riku, I… I need... help…” Sora gasped out. His brain felt fuzzy...

“Help? Sora, are you okay!?”

“N-no,” Sora said meekly, voice shaking along with his entire body. “No, I… I don’t want to die…” he trailed off, unsure if he was even loud enough to be heard.

Sora didn’t hear Riku’s frantic reply as he tumbled to the ground.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

“Sora? Sora!” Riku bellowed into the phone upon hearing a loud thunk. Had Sora fainted? Was someone attacking him? “Sora, please tell me you’re okay!” 

No answer.

“Fuck,” Riku swore. He slammed the phone back on the receiver and then leapt out of bed, tripping over the covers on the way out. He untangled himself and dashed out the bedroom door and down the stairs. 

“Riku? What’s going on?” his dad, who had been watching TV, asked as Riku tugged his shoes on and grabbed a hooded sweatshirt.

“No time!” Riku exclaimed, tearing the door open and darting down the street, pulling on the royal blue sweatshirt as he ran. Thankfully, Sora’s house was only a block away.

Riku used some magic to enhance his speed, not caring who saw. Sora was in trouble; if he got scolded for messing up world order, so be it. Reaching the door to Sora’s house, he summoned his keyblade to unlock it; they had a hidden key, but there was no time to bother with that. Riku noticed the house was still; too still. But he didn’t sense any enemies… he noted the hallway light upstairs was on; there was a phone there so most likely that was where Sora was. Riku dashed up the stairs, tripping a little on the way, only to find…

“Sora!” Riku called loudly, darting to his friend and skidding to the ground where Sora had collapsed, the phone hanging from its cord emitting a dial tone. Riku shook Sora’s shoulder, trying to wake him; thankfully the brunette was breathing, albeit very shallow and raspy. Riku checked his pulse, which was erratic. “Sora, hey, come on, wake up!” Riku begged, shaking more vigorously.

“Ngh… Riku?” Sora muttered sleepily, eyes fluttering a bit but barely opening.

“Sora!” Riku gasped, relieved. “What happened? Sora?”

Sora didn’t respond, appearing to be barely aware of his surroundings.

Riku looked around, trying to figure out what happened, freezing when he noticed the floor of the nearby bathroom was strewn with pills. His eyes widened. Had Sora tried to…?

“Sora, hey, talk to me,” Riku said urgently, squeezing his shoulder. “Did you take those pills? How many? Hey, come on, you have to stay awake!” 

“Sorry…” Sora said weakly.

Riku closed his eyes, trying to push away the building panic. He had to stay calm and think. Okay. First thing to do was get Sora to a hospital. He grabbed the phone that was dangling within arm’s reach and quickly dialed his house number.

“Riku, is that you?” his dad answered, voice full of worry. “What’s going on?”

“Start the car; we need to get Sora to a hospital,” Riku told him. “I’ll explain on the way.” Riku hung up the phone and darted to the bathroom, grabbing the empty bottle and shoving it in his pocket before scooping up Sora and rushing out of the house.

Riku’s dad met them with the car halfway back to Riku’s house, and Riku ripped the door open, jumping into the back seat so he could sit with Sora cradled in his arms. As soon as they were in, Riku's dad sped off.

“Hey, Sora, come on, you gotta stay awake,” Riku begged, clutching the brunette tightly. Sora didn’t respond; his eyes were hazy, but he was still at least semi-conscious.

“Riku, what’s going on?” his dad demanded.

“I’m not completely sure. Sora called me in a panic, slurring his speech and sounding really out of it; when I got there he was unconscious, but he woke when I shook him. There were a bunch of pills on the bathroom floor. I think…” Riku’s voice shook as he quietly spoke, not wanting to voice it but knowing he had to. “I think he might have tried to kill himself, then changed his mind…” Riku felt tears budding in his eyes, but held them back. This wasn’t the time to get emotional! He had to stay calm.

Riku’s dad sped down the road, going more than double the speed limit. A cop noticed, and blared its sirens, but Riku’s dad didn’t stop; they had to get to the hospital! Riku held Sora close, noting that the brunette was now entirely unresponsive. Thankfully, it was nearby; as Riku’s dad turned into it, the cop turned the siren and lights off and slowed, probably realizing it'd been an emergency. Riku's dad pulled up to the door in a skid, car screeching in protest. “Go,” he ordered. “I’ll talk to the cop and park the car.”

“Right,” Riku said, though he was already halfway out the door. He grabbed Sora, who was now completely unconscious, carrying him bridal style. Riku nearly slammed into the automatic door as he hurried into the hospital.

“You need to help him!” Riku called desperately, rushing up to the reception desk. “He… he took a bunch of pills…”

The receptionist turned behind her and called to someone, code-something. Within seconds a nurse rolled out a gurney and instructed Riku to put Sora on it, which he did. Riku tried to go with them as they wheeled Sora away, but another nurse stopped him. Riku tried begging to stay with Sora, but the nurse wouldn’t let him go further than the waiting room for safety reasons, although she said they’d call him when Sora was stable. She then asked for the specifics of what happened, which Riku hurriedly explained, and then he handed her the bottle so they’d know what he took, shaking as he did so. Riku tried once again to ask if he could be there, but the nurse very bluntly told him that he’d only be in the way before abruptly closing the door. Riku knew the nurse was right, but…

“Riku,” his dad said, putting a hand on Riku’s shoulder from behind. Riku jumped a little; he hadn’t noticed his dad come in!

Riku clutched at his dad’s hand, trying not to cry. Which turned out to be easy once overhearing the nearby conversation someone was having with the receptionist, as it gradually morphed his sadness to anger. 

That someone was an angry-looking middle-aged woman holding a toddler. “Why does that kid get to go first?!” she demanded. “What, is he a doctor’s kid or something?”

“No, ma’am,” the receptionist said calmly, clearly used to this. “We accept patients based on urgency. His took priority.”

“Urgency?! We’ve been waiting here for over an hour! He’s the third person to get taken immediately, before us! Or do you not care about my kid?”

“The doctors give priority to the cases that are the most serious,” the receptionist repeated.

“More serious?! My kid swallowed a key! How is that not serious?!”

“As I told you the previous two times, although that is dangerous, it is not an immediate life-or-death situation, thus not a priority. One of the people earlier, as you saw, had gotten his arm stuck in a saw. He was minutes away from bleeding out. If we had treated your toddler first, that man would most likely be dead.”

The woman scoffed. “Fine, I’ll give you that one. But what about that strung-out kid? Surely that can’t be nearly as urgent! There is no reason to make me wait any longer.”

Riku’s rage flared as he realized she was talking about Sora. He turned to her. “Are you serious?!” he yelled. “He’s not some strung-out kid! He could die! If I hadn’t found him when I did…” Riku shivered at the thought. “Would you really let him die just because you’re slightly inconvenienced by waiting!? You heard what she said! Your kid will be fine! Sora… Sora might…” Riku felt himself shaking as his eyes welled with tears.

The woman narrowed her eyes, looking at Riku with a haughty expression. “My kid is vastly more valuable than your little junkie boyfriend,” she said with clear disdain.

Riku bristled at the gall of the woman, trying to resist an urge to punch her. Riku’s dad squeezed his shoulder slightly, a warning not to let his temper get the best of him. “He’s not a junkie,” Riku growled out. Riku was pretty sure Sora hadn’t ever done drugs recreationally. How could this woman just make assumptions like that?!

The woman ignored Riku, turning back to the receptionist. “Now—”

The receptionist cut her off, voice firm. “Ma’am, if you continue to argue and make a scene, I will call security and you will be escorted out—after which you may try the hospital on the next island over.”

The woman gasped. “But that’s more than a half hour away!”

“It’ll probably still be faster than waiting here,” Riku suggested, hoping that would make her go away.

Somehow, it worked. The woman blinked, then narrowed her eyes. “True. You know, with such abysmal service, I’m surprised you are still even open. I will be submitting a complaint,” she said contritely, then abruptly swiveled around and briskly maneuvered out of the building.

Riku shook his head in disbelief as he watched the woman leave. He spitefully hoped that that hospital made her wait even longer than this one had.

“Come on, let’s sit down,” Riku’s dad suggested, after briefly discussing with the receptionist the issue of Sora’s mother, unsurprisingly whose location they weren’t entirely sure of. She was constantly running off to who-knows-where. Some sort of legal arrangement had long ago been worked out giving Riku’s dad control over Sora’s medical things when she wasn’t around; Riku wasn’t fully sure of the details of that, but the point was, Sora’s mom wasn’t likely to show up, thus Riku’s dad was taking charge.

Before Riku followed his dad to the small section of chairs, he asked the secretary for a piece of paper and a pen, which she was more than happy to give him after he'd helped her get that woman to leave. Riku had remembered that shortly before bed he had received a letter via Moogle Mail that he should reply to. He quickly scribbled something down and pulled a coin out of his pocket, saying a spell that, according to the letter he’d received, supposedly would send the letter to the moogles' post office and then the recipient. Riku had never used Moogle Mail before, but the letter and coin vanished, so presumably it worked.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Mickey sat at his mahogany desk humming an upbeat tune as he shuffled through some paperwork he had to address. It was fairly boring but hopefully the next day would make up for that—after all, he'd finally be seeing the youngest keyblade wielders again. Earlier that day he had sent a letter to Riku informing him that Donald and Goofy would be picking him and Sora up. Yen Sid planned for Sora and Riku to take the Mark of Mastery exam to see how far their keyblade skills had come, as well as possibly to obtain a special power that would help awaken the sleeping keyblade wielder, Ventus. He had also left instructions on how to reply to the letter via Moogle Mail in case, for whatever reason, the two couldn't leave the islands on such short notice, but as far as Mickey knew the only thing the two were currently doing on the islands was school, which he suspected they would be more than excited to skip in order to do keyblade things.

Thus, Mickey was extremely surprised when, only a few moments later, a letter appeared on his desk in a puff of red smoke—a delivery from Moogle Mail. The color worried Mickey, as the moogles tended to color code the smoke based on how urgent they felt the mail was: red was the most urgent.

Mickey hurriedly opened the letter and read it, which only took a moment because it was very brief. There was no sender listed, but Mickey recognized Riku’s handwriting:  
Probably can't leave tomorrow. Sora in ER. Will keep you updated.

Mickey stared at the letter for a moment, processing it. He wished that it was the little more detailed, but Mickey realized that if Riku was with Sora in the ER, he probably wasn't likely to sit down writing a complicated letter. In fact, it was impressive that he remembered to write a letter at all!

Well, now he had to go tell Donald and Goofy about this, Mickey figured. He would probably have to warn them not to rush out, rather wait for an update. Mickey himself was immensely worried, as most simple injuries could be cured with magic, meaning Sora must be there for something potentially life-threatening, but he knew it wouldn't do any good to rush over there and storm into the hospital. Mickey debated telling the duck and dog in the morning, but they probably wouldn't appreciate that very much. No, he had to tell them now.

Mickey hurried out of his chair and towards the door; conveniently at that moment Donald and Goofy opened the door to enter the study.

“Hey want to get some ice cream?” Donald asked.

“We heard that they invented a new flavor!” Goofy further explained.

Mickey sighed. “Gosh guys, I would love to, but there's something you need to know first…”

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Sora sat on top of water so smooth that it perfectly reflected the cerulean sky dotted with puffy white clouds. One could barely tell where the sky ended and the sea began. For some reason, the water wasn’t making Sora’s butt wet, but Sora contributed that to this being some sort of in-between realm, if the small grey puffy bipedal cat-like creature in front of him was correct. Which, considering it had allegedly lived here for centuries, Sora could reasonably assume.

Said creature was in the middle of attempting to give Sora a pep talk. Well, perhaps pep talk wasn’t quite right. It kept repeating that his time wasn’t up yet, that Sora had things yet to do, big things. Sora didn’t really believe that, though. Yeah, he’d saved the worlds a few times, but he’d always had help for that. He was sure the others would be able to save the worlds without him if they found themselves in danger again.

The creature—Chirithy, Sora remembered—eventually sighed and wilted slightly. “What will it take to convince you to go back?”

Sora shrugged. Honestly he didn’t know. He didn’t really want to move on, but he didn’t see much to stay for, either. Things had just felt so pointless lately. On his journey he had had more than plenty to distract him from his feelings of worthlessness and the listless numbness that would occasionally appear—which was what he’d been feeling before he swallowed all those pills—but now all there was was school, which Sora hadn’t been doing well with at all. He’d never been the best at focusing before, but now that he knew everything that was out there, it was even more difficult to concentrate on such mundane things as schoolwork. Thus, he was failing. On top of that, he had almost no one around. He’d made so many friends on his journey in other worlds, but here he felt alienated from everyone! Well, except for Kairi and Riku, although they had changed a fair amount since leaving the islands. Not in a bad way of course—the opposite, in fact!—but it was an adjustment. Not even Sora’s mother was around, again. Seeing her was a reason he’d wanted to return to the islands, but just a few days later she’d taken off and he hadn’t seen her since. Not surprising, considering the number of times she’d randomly vanished when he was a kid, too; it was a miracle she hadn’t lost custody of him. Sora wondered if she had even missed him those years he was gone. Would she care if he vanished again? Would she even notice? 

“Oh!” Chirithy suddenly declared, seeming to realize something. “What about your friends? They’ll be sad if you’re gone.”

“They’ll get over it,” Sora listlessly said in response.

“Will they?”

“Yeah…”

“Hmm. I don’t think so,” Chirithy stated. “Here. I’m not really supposed to do this, but let’s have a look at what’s going on right now.” Chirithy held out its paw.

Sora stared blankly at the paw.

“Take it!” Chirithy said, sounding annoyed and shaking the paw a bit.

Sora frowned, then shrugged. What could it hurt? There wasn't much else to do, and whatever the creature had in mind was likely better than the prior lecture. Sora reached out and grabbed the paw. 

Suddenly, Sora and Chirithy were standing in a hospital room.

“Huh? Did you bring me back without my permission?” Sora wondered.

“No, I unfortunately can’t do that,” Chirithy admitted, sounding disappointed. “You’re only here in an astral form.” Chirithy waved its paw, gesturing to something to the side of Sora.

Sora turned, and his eyes widened in shock as he let out a gasp. “That’s… that’s me…” he said weakly, staring at his body, unconscious on a hospital bed with various tubes sticking out of him and an oxygen mask over his face. Machines beeped, and a number of nurses were there monitoring his vitals, looking nervous.

“It’s very touch-and-go,” Chirithy explained. “Which way it goes is currently purely up to you, after all.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Sora wondered, somewhat uncomfortable. Was Chirithy trying to guilt Sora into returning?

Chirithy shook its head. “This isn’t what I want you to see. Follow me.”

Chirithy hobbled out of the room and through the hospital, Sora following. Eventually they came to a door; Sora reached out to grab the handle, only to find his hand—which was translucent—went right through.

“Like this,” Chirithy said, stepping right through the solid door.

Sora paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and stepped forwards. Going through the solid door didn’t feel like anything; in fact, Sora realized he didn’t feel physical sensation at all in this form. Sora supposed this must be what it was like to be a ghost… wait. Was he technically a ghost? Chirithy had used the term 'astral form'; was that just a fancy term for ghost? But, he was alive, right? Even though he wasn't actually in his body? So, not a ghost.

Sora opened his eyes to find that he had emerged in the hospital waiting room. He looked around, then saw why Chirithy had brought him here.

“Riku!” Sora proclaimed, rushing over to him, though of course Riku couldn’t see nor hear Sora. Riku was huddled in a ball on the chair, leaning into his dad, who was rubbing Riku’s upper arm in a comforting gesture. With a start, Sora realized that Riku was crying. Not just small tears, either, but big sobs; Sora hadn’t seen Riku cry like this since they were in preschool.

After a couple minutes of Sora watching helplessly, Riku’s sobs quieted, though the tears still fell. “What if… what if he doesn’t make it?” he voiced quietly.

“Don’t worry, he will,” Riku’s dad said confidently.

“But what if he doesn’t? I only just barely got him back…” Riku whispered. “And after all that, he still… why? Why would he…”

“Shh, it’ll be fine,” Riku’s dad assured Riku. “You can ask him that when he’s awake.”

Riku began wailing again. “But what if it’s a year again? I can’t… I can’t endure that again!" Riku took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes, clearly trying to quiet the tears, which was semi-successful. He then said quietly, "I watched him sleep for a year… it wasn’t supposed to be nearly that long, but… I was so afraid. I was so afraid he wouldn’t ever wake up. And now it’s the same situation, only they won’t let me be there this time…”

“It’s not the same situation,” Riku’s dad said firmly. “Sora will wake up soon, you’ll see.”

Riku didn’t respond, instead curling into himself more, wiping some snot on his sleeve.

“Riku…” Sora whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Riku jerked up, and Sora reflectively stepped back. Riku looked around. “Sora?” he whispered, although it seemed he couldn’t see him. 

Sora blinked. “Did he feel me?” he asked in wonder, then said louder, “Riku! Riku, I’m here!” Riku didn’t react, even when Sora touched him again, and then waved a hand completely through his head to confirm that Riku couldn’t sense him at all.

“You two have a very strong bond, for him to have felt your love like that.”

Sora scrunched his brow. “My… love?”

Chirithy nodded. “Yes. You love him, don’t you? Deeper than that of a friend.”

Sora blinked, taken by surprise. Did he? Sora thought about that. He had never heard of a boy loving another boy in a romantic way. He’d seen many people in love before, but they were all male-female relationships. But if he ignored gender… well, looking back, it made sense. Sora and Riku were definitely quite similar to those couples. In fact, their bond was possibly even stronger, in Sora's opinion. “I… I didn’t know that was allowed,” he admitted sheepishly. "Two boys being in love," Sora clarified. 

“What! Of course it’s allowed,” Chirithy exclaimed. “My goodness! No wonder you’ve been so slow on the uptake!”

Sora blushed and scratched his cheek a little. “Yeah…”

“You really do love him, don’t you?” Riku’s dad asked. Sora gave a start and looked towards him, only to find he was talking to Riku, who was curled up again. Maybe Sora and Chirithy talking about it near him had somehow caused Riku's dad to think of the same topic. 

“...Yeah.” Riku admitted quietly, and Sora's heart excitedly fluttered. “But… I don’t think he feels the same way…”

“What? Of course I do, Riku!” Sora exclaimed, although Riku couldn’t hear.

Riku’s dad laughed slightly. “Riku, stop overthinking. I’m positive it’s mutual. Sora practically worships you.”

Sora blushed at that. “What? I don’t—” Sora cut himself off, as he noticed Chirithy’s amused expression. He chuckled sheepishly and scratched his cheek. “Okay, maybe I do.” 

“...Maybe,” Riku said quietly. “I wish I could have told him before… I wanted to when we were on the dark beach, but… but I chickened out,” Riku revealed with a blush.

“Then tell him tonight, when he wakes up,” Riku’s dad told Riku.

Riku’s face reddened. “What? I can’t do that!”

“Yes you can!” Sora loudly asserted. “And I’ll say it right back! ...Actually, no, I’ll say it first!” He’d save Riku the embarrassment and also surprise him. Sora could just imagine the huge smile it’d create on the silverette, a smile Sora rarely saw anymore. Riku was always so serious now. Not that being serious was a bad thing! But Riku could really do with lightening up sometimes. 

“You know, you can’t do that if you’re here,” Chirithy pointed out.

Sora blinked a few times, adjusting to the sudden brightness compared to the waiting room; they were back in the world of sea and sky.

“Ready to go back?” Chirithy asked gently.

Sora nodded. “Yeah,” he said with a small smile. “Yeah, I have something important I need to do.”

Chirithy chuckled. “You have many important things to do,” it corrected. “Even if you don’t believe me. Buuuuut I suppose acknowledging one thing is at least a start.”

Sora wasn’t sure what those other things were; he’d asked earlier, but Chirithy hadn’t told him, nor did it appear that it could be convinced to reveal them. “Will I see you again?” Sora asked instead.

“Hopefully not for a very long time,” Chirithy said earnestly as everything around Sora faded.

Sora blinked open his eyes to find himself once again in the hospital room, only this time he was actually in his own body in the bed.

“Riku!” Sora called with a gasp, attempting to sit up as he tore away the mask. He felt sluggish and his limbs didn’t want to cooperate well, but Sora didn’t care; he could only think about Riku crying. He had to show Riku he was okay… And then tell Riku he loved him. 

“Hey, you need to calm down,” a nurse said, gently pressing on Sora’s shoulder to force him back into a lying position. 

“I need Riku,” Sora muttered, wanting to shout but finding his voice weak. He struggled a bit more, annoyed at how easy it was for the nurse to thwart his attempt at seeing Riku.

Another nurse joined in trying to stop Sora’s struggling before he accidentally pulled things out. “Okay, we’ll get Riku for you,” he said calmly. “But first, we need to check you over again, okay? You’ve been through quite an ordeal; we need to make sure you’re up to it.”

“I am up for it,” Sora protested, though he stopped trying to escape the bed. “I need to see him.”

“And you will, soon,” the first nurse said soothingly. “The sooner you cooperate and let us run the tests, the sooner you can see him, okay?”

Sora sighed in frustration, but complied. It wasn’t like he could move that well, anyway; if he did manage to get out of the bed he’d probably fall onto the floor.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Riku woke to someone shaking him lightly. Riku blinked open his eyes, confused for a moment before he realized where he was: the hospital waiting room. He’d apparently cried himself to sleep, leaning against his father; how embarrassing. He was glad Sora hadn’t seen him such a mess… wait. Sora. 

Riku’s dad had woken him, and a nurse was standing in front of them. Riku’s heart missed a beat as he shot up to his feet. “Is Sora okay?” he asked in a panic.

“You must be Riku, right?” The nurse asked, smiling gently. “Don’t worry, Sora’s doing just fine; he’s awake now, and has been asking for you.”

“He has?” Riku said, relief flowing over him in waves. Sora was going to be okay.

“Yes. In fact, immediately after he woke, he called for you, then tried to get up to go find you; we had to restrain him before he pulled the IV out!” she chuckled.

Riku smiled; yeah, that definitely sounded like something Sora would do. “So, does that mean I can see him now?” Riku asked hopefully.

“In a few moments, yes.” The nurse turned to speak to Riku’s dad, who had stood up too. “Currently he is speaking with our emergency psychiatrist. Given the circumstances, I’d say it’s certain he will suggest Sora be transferred to the larger hospital the next island over, which has a psychiatric wing. There he will receive a more complete evaluation, and a treatment plan can be put in place.”

“You’re going to lock him up?” Riku asked, stunned.

Riku’s dad chuckled slightly and put a hand on Riku’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, son; it’s not like they depict them in horror movies, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Riku blushed in response; that actually had been what had first come to his mind, even though he actually did know it wasn't like that. 

“There are other options, too,” the nurse said. “They won’t necessarily recommend he go to a facility. Outpatient treatment is a common method, providing he has…”

Riku zoned out a bit as the nurse spoke to his dad about things. Something had occurred to Riku: the doctors here didn't know about the other worlds. If Sora had to see someone, they’d be asking about the past couple years, which undoubtedly had caused trauma for Sora (it definitely had for Riku; he was extremely lucky that Naminé had been a pretty great substitute for a therapist). Which meant Sora would either have to lie, in which case it wouldn’t help at all, or tell the truth, in which case they’d think him delusional or hallucinating. What should they do? Maybe Mickey would know… yeah, there must be psychiatrists and therapists who knew about other worlds and keyblades and stuff. He needed to let Mickey know Sora was okay, anyway; it’d already been… Riku glanced at the large clock near the reception counter and gave a start. They’d been there five hours? Riku must have slept for two or three, then. He wondered if his dad had slept any, too.

Another nurse came out to let them know they could see Sora now, and that the psychiatrist needed to talk with Riku’s dad. Riku practically ran past the nurse into the main hospital area, only stopping because he didn’t actually know where Sora was and he didn’t want to embarrass everyone (and possibly get thrown out) by storming into every room in search of Sora.

“It’s this way,” the nurse said as he reached him, Riku’s dad and the other nurse following him. He gave Riku a knowing smile and led them down a short hallway to a small private patient room, set up for one person. Another nurse was there too, along with a fairly elderly man in a suit who made a beeline for Riku’s dad; he must be the psychiatrist.

“Sora!” Riku called upon seeing the small figure in the bed. He rushed into the room, having to stop himself from tackling the brunette.

Sora, apparently, didn’t have the same reservations. “Riku!” He yelled, attempting to scramble out of the bed, just for the nurse next to him to grab his arm to stop him from doing so; there was still an IV attached to him, after all. She must have predicted Sora would do that. “Riku,” Sora said again, quieter, grabbing for Riku as he approached to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Hey, relax, I’m here,” Riku said quietly as Sora clutched his hands, hoping he didn’t start crying again. They’d be happy tears this time, and Riku was sure Sora wouldn’t tease him for it (especially after Sora’s own display when the two of them had reunited), but still.

“Riku,” Sora said again, starting to tear up. He scooched forwards towards Riku and wrapped his arms around him; Riku returned the hug naturally. “Riku, I’m s-so sorry,” Sora said, slightly muffled as he’d buried his face in Riku’s chest. “I’m so sorry. After all you did for me, and then I… I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, it’s okay, no need to apologize,” Riku said, stroking Sora’s hair. “You’re safe now, that’s what matters. You’ll get through this; I know you will. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“I know,” Sora said, and Riku knew Sora was smiling even though he still was hiding in Riku’s chest. “I love you so much.”

Riku froze briefly and breathed in sharply, not expecting that at all, then realized he should reply. “I love you too,” he said softly, squeezing Sora close to him. “More than anything.”

Sora moved back slightly, grinning playfully as he looked at Riku. “Reaaaally?”

Riku rolled his eyes and chuckled in amusement, recognizing where this was headed. “Yes, really.”

“Even more than cookies?”

“Yes, even more than cookies.”

“Even more than cake?”

“Yes.”

“Ice cream?”

“Yes…”

“Sea-salt ice cream?”

Riku laughed fondly. “Why’s it all food? What are you, hungry?”

“Ri-ku!”

“Yes, more than sea-salt ice cream, too.”

“What about—”

Riku put a finger over Sora’s lips. “Okay, I think that’s enough now,” he said, laughing even more. “I really do love you more than anything, okay?”

Sora laughed too, then flopped back into Riku’s arms. “I love you more than anything, too.”

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Mickey, attempting to do the paperwork he’d neglected earlier, watched Donald pace back and forth in the study, wings behind his back and looking a mix of impatient and worried. Goofy was in the room too, also looking anxious, though at least he was sitting down on one of the plush couches.

Mickey sighed. “Donald, I’m positive they’ll contact us soon,” he reminded the duck. “Sora will be fine, I’m sure of it.”

Donald stopped and glared at Mickey. “It’s been hours! If we don’t hear from them soon, I’m flying over there!”

“Maybe they forgot,” Goofy suggested.

Donald’s glare turned to Goofy. “What do you mean, 'maybe they forgot'?! They wouldn’t do that!” Then he looked unsure. “...Would they?”

“If they don’t contact us soon, I’ll send them a letter,” Mickey suggested. Thankfully, Moogle Mail was near-instant; the only reason they didn’t use it constantly was the high fee per letter ever since Scrooge bought the company. “But you need to be patient.”

“I am being patient!”

Mickey resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the duck; he couldn’t blame Donald for being restless. They all were extremely worried, Mickey too; they just had different ways of showing it.

Thankfully, only a few minutes later a note appeared, this time in a puff of orange smoke, which was a relief: orange meant the letter was important, but not as urgent to be worried. It must be good news.

Well, mostly good news, Mickey decided as he read the letter. The rest was worrisome, but the important part was—

“Well? Is Sora okay?” Donald demanded.

“Yup!” Mickey said happily, although that was only partly true. “He pulled through.”

“Does it say anything about why he was in the ER?” Goofy asked, standing up and walking over to them, a look of mixed relief and worry on his face.

Mickey hesitated. It didn’t go into full detail, but things could be extrapolated from it. “I’m not sure if it’s my place to tell you,” Mickey admitted.

Donald snatched the letter out of Mickey’s hand, which honestly should have been expected. He read it quickly, eyes widening as he did so. “Wak!” he squawked in surprise. “Psychiatric care? Why would Sora need psychiatric care?!”

That had surprised Mickey too; he had assumed Sora had been attacked or had some sort of accident, but the questions Riku was asking in the letter implied Sora actually had intentionally hurt himself… or tried to do more. Mickey would never have expected that from Sora, but… “Sometimes the people we least expect hold the most hurt inside. Everyone has been through so much these past few years; we have to remember, these are kids we’re talking about. They were thrown into this; they don’t have decades of battle experience like we do, nor did they even train for it. Sora must have been hiding his suffering.”

“Gawrsh,” Goofy said quietly. “I hadn't thought about it like that. Do ya think all the kids should see someone, in case they're hurting too?”

Mickey nodded. “Yes, that probably is a good idea.” Riku seemed to be handling his own issues well, of which Mickey already knew a lot about, but it wouldn’t hurt to be certain. Kairi, too, probably had trauma from being kidnapped. In retrospect, they shouldn’t have simply left the kids on the islands once everything was done with; they hadn’t even checked if their parents were around! The kids were permitted to tell their parents what had really happened, but they probably could have used some support for that, too.

“So! Can we go see him now?” Donald asked sharply.

Mickey frowned. The letter hadn’t said so. “I’m not sure. But, you’ll need to go pick him up anyway; we can’t leave him in the care of doctors who don’t know about other worlds or keyblades. I’ll make some calls in the morning to see if anyone is available right away.”

“Then we’ll leave immediately!” Donald declared.

Mickey shook his head. “No. Wait until the morning; you need sleep.”

“But—”

“I’m not letting you fly a GummiShip when you look like you’re going to collapse on your feet; it’s so late it’s nearly morning!”

Donald crossed his arms and looked away. “Fine,” he huffed. “But we’re still leaving first thing! It takes twelve hours to get there from here, and I don’t want to arrive late enough that they’re asleep!”

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Riku cuddled with Sora on a couch at his home, watching a TV program; Sora was curled into Riku’s side, and Riku had his arm around Sora, who seemed to have fallen asleep. Riku too was in danger of falling asleep; he’d slept some earlier in the hospital with Sora, refusing to leave his side, but it had been far from a restful sleep.

After the letter from Mickey arrived, Riku’s dad had made up a story about wanting to send Sora to a place on the mainland where a family member worked. It was a complete lie, but the hospital didn’t know that, so agreed to release Sora shortly after noon under the promise that Riku’s dad would stay home with the boys so Sora could remain under constant adult supervision. Riku’s dad had been perfectly fine with that, as he’d already called his job and contacted the school about Sora and Riku—not just about them missing that day of school, but letting the school know the boys wouldn’t be returning: In Sora’s case for psychiatric treatment away from the islands, and in Riku’s case transferring schools as they were moving. That latter bit wasn’t even a lie—Riku’s dad, anticipating Riku would insist upon going with Sora and wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, had decided to follow the boys, to Riku’s surprise. To where specifically they weren’t sure—Mickey said it could be Disney Town, Traverse Town, Twilight Town, or Radiant Garden depending on doctor availability—but as long as Sora got the help he needed Riku didn’t care where they went. Riku wasn’t sure what they’d do about school; that probably depended on where they ended up, but Riku was certain the adults would insist upon them getting some sort of education.

They had only arrived home less than a half hour prior. Riku’s dad was currently, unbeknownst to Sora, locking up all the medicine and other potential things the brunette could use to harm himself. Riku highly doubted Sora would try anything, but his dad wanted to be extra safe, which was understandable. Riku was still fairly shocked at the events of less than twelve hours prior, but he’d long ago learned how to stay strong through traumatic things… Well, at least during the aftermath of such. Riku was sure he’d cried enough tears while Sora was unconscious to cover his quota for the next year. But he had to be strong now for Sora’s sake; Sora already felt immensely guilty for putting everyone through that, and Riku crying again would only add to that. Riku had told the brunette multiple times that he didn’t need to apologize for it, that there was nothing to feel guilty about, but Sora was stubborn.

Riku’s dad appeared in the doorway to the living room. “I’m going to make you two lunch. Sandwiches are okay, right? What kind do you—ah, I see Sora’s asleep. Riku, he still likes PB&J, right? Strawberry jam? I think we have that.”

“Yup,” Riku said. Sora had actually just been complaining a few days earlier about how he’d run out… wait. ‘He’, not ‘they’? Had Sora’s mom been gone already at that point? ...Actually, come to think of it, had Sora’s mom been around at all since they’d returned a couple months prior? Riku didn’t recall actually seeing her, even though he had been by Sora’s place a couple times, although generally Sora went straight to either Riku’s or Kairi’s after school.

So, Riku asked his dad, “Hey. Have you seen Sora’s mom around at all? I can’t recall seeing her once since we returned, and I don’t think Sora ever actually mentioned her…” Riku had asked him how telling his mother things had gone, and Sora had just dodged the questions or gave abstract answers. She hadn’t been there when they were re-enrolled in school, either—Riku’s dad had taken care of that.

Riku’s dad frowned. “Come to think of it, no, I haven’t actually seen her either. I did speak to her on the phone when you first returned to ask her about school enrollment and other things, but she just asked if I could take care of that. I haven’t heard from her since; I assumed Sora would mention if she completely vanished.”

Riku nodded. “Yeah, it’s not like him to hide that…”

Riku’s dad put a hand on his chin, looking thoughtful. “Actually, maybe it’s not so surprising he would—he’s still only sixteen, after all. If his mom up and vanished, that’d be considered neglect, and he’d get sent to foster care. He almost did a few times; as you know, last time his mom left for that long he was only allowed to stay with her because I agreed to help—the courts were actually inches away from giving me full custody even though I hadn’t even suggested that. I doubt they’d be willing to give her another chance after that.”

Riku shook his head in disbelief. “How could a parent just do that? It’s not like she hates him; it always seemed the opposite, at least when she was around. She’d give him lots of random gifts and take us to amusement parks and stuff.”

Riku’s dad sighed, giving Riku a sad smile. “Those ‘random’ gifts and field trips conveniently were around the times child services checked up on her,” he divulged.

Riku blinked. He’d never noticed that before… then again, he also hadn’t even realized child services had actively been involved to the point they were checking on Sora on a schedule. Riku wondered how much Sora’s mom actually played in triggering the previous night’s events; did Sora think she didn’t care about him? It wasn’t a far stretch to conclude that. It might even be true, now that Riku thought about it some more.

There was a knock at the door; Riku’s dad went to answer it. Riku glanced at the clock on the wall and concluded that most likely it was Kairi, considering it was just after school usually let out. She would have definitely noticed the two boys weren’t in class, as they had mostly the same ones. Riku was still amazed at how he and Sora had both managed to test into the same grade as her. Well, Sora at least. Riku had been a grade higher before leaving, so technically he’d tested into a grade below what he’d been in if he hadn’t left, which made sense. Sora testing into Kairi’s grade was the surprise, especially as he’d been asleep for a year. Or, maybe it wasn’t so surprising; Sora had always been much brighter than he seemed. It was mostly his high distractibility and lack of focus that had caused his low grades in school. That, combined with his happy-go-lucky attitude, impulsiveness, and penchant to act before thinking, often gave people the impression that he was much less intelligent than he truly was.

“There you two are!” Kairi said cheerfully upon entering the room. “I stopped by Sora’s house first, but no one was home; I’d almost thought you’d run off without me again,” she joked.

Riku chuckled. “Don’t worry, we were going to tell you. Figured you’d show up here.”

Kairi blinked. “Wait. ‘Going to tell’ me? Does that mean you two actually ARE leaving?”

“Ngh… what’s going on…?” Sora mumbled, blinking his eyes open. “I hear Kairi…”

Riku moved Sora to a sitting position as the brunette slowly returned to consciousness. Sora shook his head adorably to wake himself up more, then turned to Kairi and beamed. “Kairi! Hi! What are you doing here?” he asked spunkily.

“You weren’t in school, silly!” Kairi said. “You lazy bum. Were you sleeping all day?”

“Oh. No, I was in the hospital,” Sora said bluntly.

Kairi’s expression quickly changed from cheerfulness to a mix of shock and worry. “The hospital?! Why?!”

Sora nibbled his lip slightly, thinking about that; Riku wondered how Sora would answer. Kairi was their best friend, and it probably would be best to tell her, but that was Sora’s decision.

Kairi frowned when Sora didn’t answer. “Well, if you don’t want to tell me you don’t have to, but is it true that you’re leaving again?”

“Yeah,” Sora admitted, looking away. “Donald and Goofy are picking us both up tonight, along with Riku’s dad.”

Kairi blinked at that. “Your dad is going, too?” she asked Riku. “Why? Where are you even going?”

“We’re not completely sure yet,” Riku admitted. “It’s…” he glanced at Sora. “It’s complicated,” he settled on.

“It depends on doctor availability,” Sora explained fairly quickly yet casually, to Riku’s surprise. Guess Sora had decided to tell Kairi everything after all. “They’re forcing me to see a psychiatrist. We have to go off-world because the ones here don’t know about keyblades and stuff. Since the hospital only agreed to release me if Riku’s dad kept an eye on me while I get treatment, he’s going with me, so of course Riku is going too. Oh! Maybe you can go too if your parents say it’s okay.”

Kairi blinked, looking slightly confused. “Wait. Backing up. Why does he need to keep an eye on you? And what about your mom?”

Sora shrugged. “Haven’t seen my mom in more than a month. Not sure she’ll even notice I’m gone again… Riku’s dad says I should still leave a note though. I’ll do that when we go pack my stuff later.”

“And the other question?”

“What other question?” Sora asked innocently.

“Why he has to watch you. Actually, the whole reason you were sent to the hospital and need psychiatric treatment in the first place. You can’t just brush over that and expect people not to wonder,” Kairi pointed out.

“Oh, that. I tried to kill myself,” Sora stated much too bluntly.

Kairi stared blankly at Sora for a moment, probably trying to gauge if he was being serious or not. “You’re… you’re not joking, are you,” she concluded shakily, then finally sat down on the couch with them, still staring at Sora, who was in-between her and Riku. “Why?”

Riku paid careful attention. He had been wondering that too, although didn’t want to outright ask. Kairi, on the other hand, had never been much for tact.

Sora shrugged and looked at a random spot on the floor. “Honestly… I’m not really sure,” he admitted. “I guess that’s what therapy will help with. I don’t remember that much about it, but I do know that I was feeling pretty bad the whole day. I just… I know I hide it, but I just get that way sometimes. Like, I’ll be feeling really good for a while, then start feeling the opposite. I don’t really know why. I don’t think there was anything specific that triggered it. I just started feeling so hopeless, and then started thinking about everything, but like just the bad things, and it was kinda overwhelming, and then I just felt numb, and—ugh, why am I saying all this?”

“Because it’s good to talk about things,” Riku said, noting that from Sora’s description there was likely more to it in his case than just needing to talk and work out problems. “Even if you don’t specifically know what’s wrong, talking can help figure it out, relieve the pressure of holding everything in.”

“You sure about that?” Sora asked, sounding a little skeptical.

Riku nodded. “Yeah. I talked a lot to Naminé about things, when you were asleep. That was… really hard on me,” he admitted. “It’s thanks to her that I was able to stay grounded, focus on helping you rather than breaking down every other day.”

Sora blushed and looked away. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

Riku chuckled and ruffled Sora’s hair a bit. “You dork. You don’t need to apologize; nothing about that was your fault.”

“But—”

“Nope, no buts!” Kairi said, covering Sora’s mouth with her hand. 

Riku peered at Kairi, curious about something. “Hey, do you remember any of that stuff? With Naminé,” he clarified.

Kairi shook her head. “Not really. Just flashes here and there…” Kairi scrunched her brow. “I’m pretty sure she’s still mostly herself in there, actually. Everyone said we were supposed to merge, but I don’t think we fully did.”

Sora nodded. “I think it’s the same with Roxas. I’m pretty sure he’s part of the reason why I called Riku last night, before the pills took effect. I wonder if there’s a way to separate them again… Without compromising us,” Sora added quickly, glancing at Riku, probably worried he’d be upset.

“We can ask Mickey about looking into that,” Riku told Sora. He wasn’t opposed to separating them, if they were their own people, especially if it was true that Roxas truly had helped save Sora's life. Riku had begun to suspect DiZ hadn’t been entirely honest about everything, including what he'd said about nobodies fully lacking hearts. So as long as Sora and Kairi weren’t harmed by it, Riku would support removing Roxas and Naminé from them, even if the former might try to kill him.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Riku’s dad said from the doorway, “But lunch is ready. Kairi, I made you a sandwich too; you still like tuna, right?"

Kairi nodded. "Thank you."

Riku's dad smiled at her. "Of course. Anyway, don't you three get too distracted now; after lunch we'll need to pack.”

“What’s going to happen to the house?” Riku wondered, realizing he hadn’t asked.

“It’ll still be here,” his dad told him. “I’m not selling it or anything; we can use it for storage, and maybe as a place to vacation once Sora’s feeling better.”

“Oh! Then you can visit me!” Kairi said happily.

Sora turned to her. “You’re not coming with us?”

Kairi shook her head. “I want to finish school here.”

Riku raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with Selphie also being here, would it?” Kairi’s crush on her was quite obvious, at least to Riku.

Kairi visibly blushed. “Maybe,” she admitted, then quickly changed the subject. “Anyway! Promise you’ll visit?”

“Only if you visit us too!” Sora declared. “We can go on trips to other worlds during your breaks and stuff! And we’ll write often—apparently there’s this thing called Moogle Mail where they teleport letters to you!”

Riku smiled fondly as he watched Sora excitedly explain to Kairi about the mail system, and then all about other worlds, not even stopping as they relocated to the kitchen for lunch.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Sora kicked his feet back and forth as he sat in amicable silence next to Riku on the sideways paopu tree on the Play Island, which had been their favorite place to hang out for as long as Sora could remember. The sun was low on the horizon, but they probably wouldn’t get to watch the sunset—a favorite pastime—as Donald and Goofy were due to pick them up any minute. Riku’s dad stood further down the beach with their bags, closer to where the ship would probably land, clearly giving Sora and Riku some time alone. Kairi had said goodbye to them before they rowed out here, making sure the two remembered to bring the wayfinders she had made for them both shortly after they returned; like Sora could ever forget that! The redhead had made a new one for herself, too, so the trio had matching ones of a much higher quality than the one she’d originally given Sora. After all, the three would always be best friends, even if Sora and Riku were now a little more than that to each other.

Wait. Were they? Sora suddenly realized that, despite declaring their love, the two actually had never discussed that; he’d just assumed. Sora stopped his kicking. “Hey, Riku?” he began tepidly.

Riku turned to look at Sora, a soft smile on his face. “What’s up?”

“Are we boyfriends now?” Sora asked, figuring it’d be best to just ask rather than overthink and get nervous.

“If you want to be,” Riku said.

Sora grinned. “Of course I want to be! Don’t you?”

Riku chuckled. “Of course. I kinda assumed we already were,” he admitted with a blush.

“Oh, okay. Good,” Sora said. “Because I did too.” Then, he remembered something. “Oh! Aren’t people in love supposed to share a paopu fruit?”

Riku blinked, seeming a bit thrown by the question. “I wouldn’t say ‘supposed to’—technically the legend only says people who share one will have their destinies intertwined, although most people do tend to use it in a romantic sense,” he explained. 

“Oh,” Sora said, slightly disappointed with Riku's response. “So… I guess that’d be redundant, then, right? I mean, our destinies are already pretty intertwined.”

Riku shrugged, blushing a little. “We can still share one if you want. Doesn’t hurt to be extra sure, right?”

Sora beamed. That had been the answer he wanted! “Okay!” He hopped onto his feet, balancing on the branch, then turned to the top end of the tree, which curved upwards. Sora stood on his toes as he stretched his arm upwards, wobbling a little, but the fruit hung just out of his reach.

Sora then felt two hands on his waist, lifting him off his feet. Sora squeaked in surprise, to his utter embarrassment, but quickly reached up to grab a fruit with Riku’s assistance.

A minute later, the two had climbed down and were again sitting comfortably next to each other on the tree.

“So, how does this work?” Sora asked, staring at the fruit in his hand. “Do I take a bite and pass it to you? Do we break it in two first? Do we feed it to each other? Do we need to both bite it at the same time?”

“Not sure,” Riku said. “The legend only refers to sharing one; it doesn’t get into specifics on how to. Which way would you prefer?”

Sora eyed the fruit, biting his lip slightly as he pondered that. This was a big deal! Why did this feel like the biggest decision of his life? Sora’s face progressively reddened as he thought of another thing they could do and how much he liked the idea. 

“Sora?” Riku prodded. “What are you thinking? You’re blushing quite a bit,” he teased.

“Oh. Um. Let’s bite it together,” Sora said, trying to calm himself. He broke off the tip of the fruit, setting the larger part off to the side. Sora held the small piece between them.

Riku blinked, then blushed too as he realized what Sora was getting at. “You want to kiss while sharing it?” he confirmed.

Sora nodded timidly, unsure why he was so sheepish about it. It was his idea, and he was certain Riku would agree to it. Maybe he was so nervous because it was their first kiss.

“I’d like that,” Riku said softly, gazing into Sora's eyes.

Sora scooched over until there was no space between his and Riku’s thighs, their hands naturally intertwining on top. The two faced each other. Sora stuck the fruit between his lips and leaned forwards. Riku mimicked Sora's movements, wrapping his mouth around it too until his and Sora’s lips were pressed together around the fruit. As they met, Sora let go of Riku’s hand to instead wrap his arms around Riku’s waist, and Riku shifted to wrap his arms around Sora too, pulling each other as close as possible as they bit down, sweet juice from the fruit dripping into their mouths (and a little down Sora’s chin as Sora sucked in the remaining bit between them). They broke the kiss and retracted back slightly to chew.

“I love you,” Sora breathed once he swallowed.

“I love you too,” Riku responded, licking his lips slightly.

Sora’s eyes caught the motion and his gaze fell to those lips, then back to Riku’s sapphire eyes. The two naturally gravitated towards each other again, this time tongues meeting between their locked lips instead of the fruit. It was more wonderful than Sora ever expected a kiss to be; why hadn’t they started doing this years ago? Sora clung to Riku, never wanting this to stop, but unfortunately they had to break the kiss to breathe.

Sora nuzzled his face into Riku’s shoulder. “I’m so glad I didn’t die,” he admitted.

Riku clutched Sora even tighter. “Me too,” he whispered.

A soft rumble sounded from above; Sora reluctantly withdrew slightly from Riku's hold to look up, seeing a GummiShip descending. 

Sora quickly jumped off the tree, grabbing the remaining fruit and splitting it in two before Riku could get down too. He held one piece out to Riku. “Here. Eat this, in case we need to share the whole thing,” he demanded.

Riku chuckled as he took the fruit. “Yes, sir,” he said, a fond smile dancing across his face before taking a bite.

Sora, laughing, grabbed Riku’s free hand and pulled him off the tree, then practically dragged the silverette across the bridge and to the beach where Riku’s dad was, eating the fruits on the way, although not finishing by the time they got there. Paopu fruits were big! 

Riku’s dad chuckled as he noticed what the two boys were munching on. “Shared a paopu, huh?” he asked teasingly, causing both boys to blush; Sora realized he’d probably seen the fairly passionate kiss, too.

Thankfully at that moment the GummiShip landed near them. It was slightly larger than the one Sora usually flew in, most likely because they had two more people than usual. Sora and Riku finished their fruit just before the landing ramp descended and the hatch opened.

“Sora!” sounded a loud squawk as a ball of white feathers practically flew out the ship and tackled him. Donald must have used magic to enhance his speed; the only reason Sora didn’t fall over is because he stumbled into Riku.

As Donald clung to Sora’s waist, Goofy rushed out of the ship at a more normal running pace and joined the group hug. Sora reached over and pulled Riku briefly into the hug too before attempting to pry himself from Donald’s vise grip.

“We were so worried about you,” Goofy said once Sora had dislodged himself. “We’re glad to see you’re all right.”

“Thanks. It’s good to see you guys too,” Sora said, and he really meant it. He’d missed them. Although, ‘all right’ was relative. He was alive, but it’d take a lot of work to reach ‘all right’, and even then Sora realized that he may never fully be. The psychiatrist at the hospital hadn’t minced words: after a brief interview he’d flat out told Sora that there was a good chance this was a chronic thing that could only be managed, not cured.

“Sora, what about your mom?” Donald asked, and Sora realized he’d zoned out while Riku introduced them to his dad. “Is she coming too?”

Sora shook his head. “Nope. Don’t even know where she is; don’t worry though, I left her a note.”

“A note!” Donald exclaimed. “You can’t tell her you’re leaving again with just a note!”

Sora shrugged noncommittally. “Well, not much else I can do, considering she took off last month and I haven’t seen her since. But that’s okay, I’m used to it.”

“Wak! What do you mean, used to it?!”

“Look, it’s fine,” Sora said, trying not to snap at Donald. He didn’t want to talk about his mom. “She does this all the time. Riku’s dad takes care of me. It’s no big deal.”

Goofy thankfully interjected, noticing Sora’s unease. “Maybe we should get going now,” he suggested. “Before it gets too late. If we don't reach the vortex before it disappears, it’ll add four hours to the drive.”

“There’s a vortex nearby?” Sora asked, excited. Those were fun! When inside them, everything got all weird and mixed-up, like inside an Escher maze. They somehow bent space, and if you navigated them right, you could get places in a much shorter time than usual—although if you didn’t time things right you could end up across the universe from where you’d intended. “Can I drive?”

Donald frowned slightly, but stopped pressing for information. “Yeah, okay,” he conceded. “I’m tired of driving today anyway. Just don’t crash the ship again.”

Sora let out a cheer—Donald rarely let him drive!—as both Riku and his dad said variations on “What do you mean crash the ship again?!”

“That was one time!” Sora explained. “When I was only just learning! And it wasn’t even my fault. Besides, it worked out in the end.” They’d found a keyhole because of it.

Sora grabbed Riku’s hand and rushed into the ship, vaguely noting Riku’s dad asking Goofy the details of the crash. Well, whatever, it wasn’t like the guy could drive the ship. 

“Hey,” Riku said, standing in front of Sora and putting his hand on his shoulder once they reached the cockpit, alone. 

Sora crossed his arms and sighed dramatically. “If this is about crashing the ship—”

Riku shook his head as he interrupted, “No, no, it’s not that. You’ve been flying for a while; I know you’ll do fine.”

“Then what is it?” Sora asked curiously, lowering his arms.

Riku sighed. “I know I keep asking a lot, but are you okay? It’s just, you seemed a little high-strung out there, when Donald was asking about your mom, and I know you tend to fake happy, and… I’m sorry, I’m rambling, I just get worried.”

Sora sighed and rolled his eyes. “Riku, you don’t have to worry about every little thing. I’m not going to die from getting a little upset.”

Riku gave Sora a pointed look in response.

Sora cringed; Riku was just concerned about Sora, and understandably too. Besides, Sora wasn’t truly annoyed at Riku—it was residual emotions from earlier rearing their heads. In fact, Sora liked that Riku cared about him so much. “Sorry, guess that wasn’t the best word to use…” Sora admitted. “But, seriously, Riku, I’m fine. I feel good right now, seeing everybody. And, we finally get to travel together! Even though the circumstances aren’t so great… but still! We’ll be together!”

Riku smiled fondly at Sora. “Yes. We’ll always be together,” he said softly. His expression then turned serious. “But, Sora, promise me you’ll tell me if you’re feeling down again, okay? I’m here for you. You don’t need to hide your feelings from me.”

Sora blushed at the conviction with which Riku delivered the sentiment. “I know,” he said. Sora felt a flash of guilt again at what he’d put Riku through not even a full day prior. He should have gone to Riku first; he constantly was asking Riku to talk to him more, so he’d been a hypocrite by not doing the same.

“Promise me you’ll tell me?” Riku asked again.

Sora nodded, then stepped into Riku’s space to wrap his arms around the silverette’s waist in a tight hug. “I promise.”

Riku returned the hug, pulling Sora close as he pressed a kiss into his hair. Sora smiled into Riku’s chest, knowing that as long as he had Riku, things were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> If you are contemplating suicide, please get help. If you are in immediate danger, call a suicide crisis line:  
> USA: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255)  
> UK: Samaritans Helpline (116-123)  
> CAN: 1-833 456-4566  
> AUS: Lifeline (13-11-14)  
> Other countries' crisis lines can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines
> 
> Note that this story, despite involving love, in no means is attempting to imply that that solves things (despite what Disney thinks). Things will surely improve for Sora, but it will take time, plenty of support from his friends and surrogate family, counseling, and most likely medication for him to get better (or at the very least learn how to manage his symptoms). The road to recovery is not as easy as finding your true love.
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoyed reading this! Comments always welcome!


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